Archive | Animals

A midst trepidation’s of distraction from the ever-growing problem of global warming that is posing a major threat to the whole world, an important meeting of governments tracking threats to endangered species chose to reject a international ban on polar bear trade on Thursday. The result of this rejection was a division among conservationists with some believing that the threat of extinction of largest carnivorous animals in the world is not only because of loss of habitat but also because of international trade of these animals.

There is enough reason for this panic as polar bears are expected to be in the frontline of those animals that will be disadvantaged because of polar ice caps that are fast melting. However, the spotlight of the raging debate among the 178 CITES member nations held in Bangkok was on the extra danger that was posed to these animals because of international trade. Continue Reading

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The Durrell Institute of Conservation located at the University of Kent recently published new research on the now extinct Barbary Lion. The new research reveals that the Barbary Lion remained unnoticed for over a decade in its last days of existence. Researcher, assuming its complete extinction, failed to notice the existence of this species. Moreover, the findings of the research reveal that this lion was in existence in North Africa until the 1960’s.

The credibility of this research is buttressed by the facts used by the researchers in coming up with their findings. Dr. Simon Black and Dr. David Roberts were fortunate to stumble on authentic records documenting the lion population. The records reveal the existence of this lion species at North Africa in 1956. The detailed records provide information of the population of the Barbary Lion in the 1920’s and the 1940’s. Museum specimen, hunting records, publications, interviews, and hunting photographs, further supports the accuracy of these records. Continue Reading

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A New Map Reveals That Nesting Spots For Turtles Cut Off By Various Conflicts

Turtle nesting experts today said that conflict has cut off most of the potential nesting spots for turtles and the spots include remotely placed locations as revealed by a new map for turtle nesting spots.

The sea turtles are having it hard as they have already been endangered by activities such as coastal development and fishing and are now in more danger as changes in the climatic conditions are threatening their reproduction. This is because the turtles need very special conditions to be able to reproduce and small alterations in the moisture and heat level are enough to prevent their eggs from hatching. Researchers say that it is now very important for the sea turtles to be able to know where conditions are optimum for them to lay eggs as the current global warming has made popular nesting spots useless due to the fact that they are either too hot or dry for use. The availability of some nesting spots that have the necessary conditions for the turtles to nest would be an ideal start show how global warming changes habitats. Continue Reading

Experts in science and ecological studies fear for the current stability and ecological repercussions of plant communities as global warming increases. A study conducted by Eric Post from Penn State university, suggests that the answer to these fears lies in the biological interaction herbivores have with their plant community, as much as it does with the climate change itself.

The study simulated climatic changes and studied the behavioral changes in large plant-eating mammals over a 10-year arctic field experiment. The reason the study was conducted in this environment, is because of the current climatic changes the area is experiencing and because Arctic plant communities are more likely to resist destabilization from climate change. The results suggest that grazing by large herbivores like Caribou, musk ox and others that plant populations are more likely to remain intact when these herbivores exist. The grazing of these animals maintains the plant diversity, even though global warming reduces it. Continue Reading

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Bath your furry friend with special dog shampoo as often as needed. Not only will it keep your dog smelling nice and keep its skin clean, but it will also prevent your canine from too much licking and scratching, causing hairless patches or sore spots. Be sure to brush your dog before each bath in order to get all of the mats and tangles out of its coat. It is recommended to get your dog professionally groomed from head-to-tail every 4 to 8 weeks, not only to keep him or her clean and healthy, but also to keep nasty fleas and ticks out of the fur.

Clicker training which originally came from the scientific term operant conditioning, is a slang name. It was originally used to train aquatic mammals, has continuously becoming more distinguished in training horses with its positive reinforcement.

Positive reinforcement is given when the action that the trainer wants the animal to repeat is done properly. The concept of operant conditioning in psychology is where an animal learns a particular behavior or a task where reward is given for accomplished action. However, for the undesirable behavior or actions done by the animal aren’t rewarded and ignored. Therefore by giving rewards for getting things right make these horses more excited and fast in their learning.

Clicker training is a great tool to embrace other training methods. All you need to be started is a clicker, some treats, and a container for the rewards. Once you have got them, your horse is now on its way to obedience. There are no set rules to pursue when using the clicker training but the following will guide you to use this method to your advantage.

Condition it with the sound of the ‘click.’

Your horse has to know that the sound ‘click’ means a reward is coming. First try to click your clicker for a few times and reward it with a treat every time it hears the sound. After about 10-15 minutes, you must repeat the sequence of clicking followed by treating. Some horses may need more sessions, but there are horses that easily get accustomed to the clicker training after three sequences.

A condition which influences an animal’s health and ability to function is called a disease. Indeed, like humans, animals can become sick and may require surgery at an animal hospital, proper medication prescribed by a veterinarian, and lots of care at home to get better.

Pet owners love their companions and when the animals happen to get sick, they worry. When initial small behavioral changes were treated with simple, over the counter medication it may have brought relief to the animal, but if the symptoms keep persisting or get worse, it is best to book an appointment with the local veterinarian.

The “grandmother hypothesis” has received mathematical support from a recent study involving computer simulation. This renowned theory postulates that human developed longer lifespan as adults than apes due to grandmothers helping in the feeding of their grandchildren. The theory was first advanced in 1997 by university of Utah anthropologists Kristen Hawkes and James O’Connell, together with Nicholas Blurton Jones, an anthropologist at UCLA.

Kristen Hawkes, a prominent anthropology professor at Utah University conducted this recent study together with Peter Kim, a mathematical biologist and former postdoctoral researcher at the same university currently based in university of Sydney and James Coxworth, an anthropology doctoral student at the University of Utah. The study was financed by the Australia’s Research Council and National Science Foundation.

The computer simulation shows that animals with lifespan similar to Chimpanzees evolve to acquire human lifespan in less than 60,000 years with a little “grandmothering”. While human females live for a number of decades after child bearing, female chimpanzees hardly ever live past their child-bearing years, which are normally their 30’s and at times their 40’s. This simulation did not consider assumptions about the human brain size. Continue Reading

The elephants’ sound is much like singing, not purring, when they rumble at friends and foes. This sound is heard for many kilometers away. Though humans can’t hear it, their infrasonic elements are very much alike to a cat’s purring. Scientists measured the sound of a dead elephant and they figured out that it might be bigger, similar to someone singing or speaking.

Cats are purring when their muscles contract very quickly. There were speculations that some of the elephant’s muscles, when contracted, give birth to a a very low infrasound. One scientist from the University of Vienna, Christian Herbst, said that an elephant could make these kind of rumbles, just exhaling air. His conclusion is that the purring premise is not quite true. He tries to study the lowest song of the elephants on the 3rd of August for the interest of science. Continue Reading

Jumping spiders falls under the category of invertebrates. For many years scientist was really amazed as how spiders manage a sophisticated nervous system with their hunting behavior. A detailed research was done on Adanson jumping spiders who fall in the category of eight eyed spiders. Four eyes are present of the face of the spider and have the sharpest vision. The jumping spiders have four distinct layers of light sensitive at the back of the eyes but the uses of these four light sensitive tissues had not been found so far. It is found that if any object falls on the base layer that object cannot be seen on the next layer up and the object becomes blurrier. Continue Reading

Monitoring Software

The Internet can be tricky for parents to deal with because kids often need to use the Internet for school, but parents parents are often worried about the various activities that their children might be engaged in. Peer-to-peer file sharing can lead to lawsuits and even a criminal prosecution. Some teens might engage in activities online that are embarrassing to the family or may lead to viruses or hackers accessing the computer. Fortunately, there are various forms of monitoring software that can offer parental control.

Monitoring software can also be very helpful when parents are trying to learn what their children are up to, such as whether they are attending class or doing their homework.

Many teens use the computer purchased specifically for schoolwork to play computer games or chat with friends. Monitoring software can not only record activities on the computer, but smartphone software such as Mobile Spy can silently record the teen's GPS information, text messages and phone call information.

Monitoring software sits silently on a computer or mobile device and monitors all of the activities carried out on the device, encouraging the teen to consistently use the device for communication. Activity is usually uploaded to an online account so that the parent can monitor activity from anywhere without having to get close to the phone. This is crucial since parents will usually not have physical access to the phone without arousing suspicion.

Many monitoring programs also come with keystroke loggers, which log keys recorded on the computer, a contextual blocker, and features that allow parents to block certain websites. All of these features allow parents to have a peace of mind when allowing their teens to use the Internet.